Left handed bass instruments (lefty bass)

The quote referenced above may have been my source.

Also, I have seen photos of the early Beatles (possibly the one referenced above) in which Paul was clearly using a right-handed Hofner, presumably with the strings reversed.

Who knows - it was a long time ago. :smiley:

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Edited on 22 Oct. 2022: There is now a spreadsheet for the list of left handed basses, so I deleted this post as it was no longer relevant.

They are still in business. If you go into the ‘shop’ part of the site, you can order L/H in many Rockbass and Teambuilt models (and of course custom shop will build anything L/H). For example:

The only bad news is the price (although there’s no uplift for L/H) and the wait.

Thanks for the info! Guess I didn’t delve deeply enough on their website. I’ll amend the post shortly.

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Yeah, this is a perennial bummer especially given the high praise which Yamaha basses receive from this forum and elsewhere.

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As I promise. Here are pics and short description of all my basses.


Harley Benton PB-20BK short scale

  • 30’ scale bass, the body is even smaller then Stratocaster one. Nothing special here but for 85£ brand new it’s surprisingly good.


Ibanez SR300GL

  • birthday present from my Mrs. Entry level of Ibanez basses I would say. Sounds good, plays really nice.


Ibanez SR600

  • better wood, better build quality then previous one. Really fast neck. Bartolini mk1 pickups. One of my favourite ones


Markus Miller Sire M2
-modern 5 strings bass. I’ve done fret job on her, had sharp edges on couple of frets. Now plays lovely and I like her more them M5


Markus Miller Sire M5

  • higher version of M series of Sire. Slightly different shape then M2, Markus Miller pre amp and pickups ( all Sire basses I own has same pre amp)


Spector Legend Classic

  • fastest neck of all my basses. Entry level of Spector basses but feels and plays like more expensive ones


Quincy bass. Copy of Warwick Corvette refinished in blue

  • bought on ebay for 70£. Changed all electronics and pups, refinished her in blue color. Here’s the link:


Harley Benton JB-20 VT series

  • this bass is heavy as hell!!! Vintage series. Another present from my Mrs


Warwick Rockbass Corvette refinished in green

  • 2005 Warwick Rockbass. Refinished in green.

Markus Miller Sire V3

  • probably my most played bass. It’s light, has fast satin finish jazz neck with rounded edges and sounds awesome. One of my favourite ones


Markuss Miller P7
-very versatile bass with PJ configuration. Same pre amp, rounded edges etc


Squier P bass 1996
-classic Precision bass by Squier/Fender. Has Seymour Duncan Quater pounder pickup.


“Popbass” cheap bass from FB market
-bought it on FB market for 60£. Changed pickup, made custom scratchplate and done fret levelling. Chunky Pbass neck


Harley Benton PB-50
-quite heavy bass but plays and sounds really nice for a price of 99£. From my Mrs as well


Relevation RPB65
-had a couple of sharp edges (done), I’ve dropped Seymour Duncan quarter ponder pickup on it and flats strings


Esp Ltd B206
-also quite haevy bass but that’s pretty normal with 6 strings basses. Sounds good and plays really nice

I repair guitar and basses so most of them has some mods on it like different pickups, schratchplates, fret job, different refinish…if someone would like to know more about every single bass, let me know :wink:

A little update. A few new basses added to my collection so here they are.


Harley Benton PB-20 SBK
-a lot of work I had to put in, mostly frets. It came with really sharp ones. Now it’s ok and doesn’t sound to bad.


Harley Benton MB-4 SBK
-another HB. Came with very high action, like 3.5 mm on 12th fret. I would say, QC is pretty bad lately on HB basses.


HB acoustic
-nice acoustic bass from FB market.

Yamaha BB614
-this bass has been in transit for 8 months, lost and found :joy:. Anyway, very easy to play bass with unique pickups and sound. It’s a slap monster.

Markus Miller Sire V7 Vintage
-another Sire bass, this one is the Vintage series, same pre-amp as previous ones, maple neck and vintage bridge.

Markus Miller Sire V5
-modern Jazz bass, 24 frets, roasted maple neck, passive one. Very interesting to play.

Sterling Stingray Sub series
-Music Man Stingray, another slap monster. My go to slap bass.

Squier Standard series 2000
-My first electric guitar ever. Nothing is original except wood :wink:. Gift from my father, so has nostalgic value to me.

Ibanez V72LECE electro-acoustic guitar
-entry level Ibanez acoustic guitar. Play nice,

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Excellent! Thanks for this. You have created a post I which I have bookmarked to show the wife in times of need :wink:

Good looking dog you have there too.

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Thanks for posting these photos and comments! You have a great collection of lefty models.

Is your Markus Miller Sire M2 a dark green, or green/blue color? If so, I like that. Maybe it’s black and is reflecting differently?

I checked to see if you had any models that are not on the list of those I’ve found, so far (as above in posts #14-15, 17-18, 26-27 or so). Although a few of the models you showed seem not to be offered currently, many are. I hadn’t known of Revelation basses, so will add them to the list shortly.

MM Sire M2 is stated blue on any website I’ve looked. But in person is green really. But under light is blue-ish😁


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I would call that turquoise myself

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Me, too, but hard to tell unless it’s right in front of you. One of my fave colors, BTW. Just got a new pair of eyeglass frames in “Dark Aqua” - love 'em! :heart_eyes:
MODO_4215_Dark_Aqua_crop
The better to see which notes to play, right?

But, we were talking about basses, and I think this Sire M2 is perhaps one of the only ones I’ve seen in a deep aqua/turquoise, at least in a left handed model. I could also go for a dark forest green.

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On 12 Aug. 2021, I merged the list of left handed basses, which had been broken into several separate posts, into the post with the first list. So now the list is all in one post, I think #14 in this thread.

:wink:

Another resource— if you are a lefty, your best friend in the world is Jerry Welch at Jerry’s Lefty Guitars in Sarasota, FL. I just got this lefty LsL P-bass from him. This is the 5th, possibly 6th, instrument I’ve bought, sold, or traded with him, and he’s always great to deal with.




He has a couple of more LsLs on order & is working to get lefty Suhr basses, they’re just being slow in filling the order.

Edited on 22 Oct. 2022:
I deleted this post with the second half of the list of left handed basses, since we now have a spreadsheet of that list which can be updated more easily. Please check the first post of this thread for more information.

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This is great stuff! My sister is a lefty and I’ve seen her struggle in a right hand world all our lives. I feel bad that the selection of basses and guitars for lefties is so limited.

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That’s some impressive work you put in there, Never, thank you.

After a lot of thought, I opted for a left-handed bass (despite being pretty ambidextrous) largely because I’ve spent my 55 years "air bass"ing as a leftie, but also because the fingers on that hand aren’t as mangled as those on the left (lifetime of martial arts will do that to a person).

With no left-handed basses in stock near me, I went to the interwebz, and found Thomann’s site. Josh’s review of cheap basses (and one by Dave Navarro) convinced me that I like the overall sound of the Harley Bentons at this price range. Ordered a very inexpensive one from Thomann… and am spending half the price again in shipping. I’d pay more if need be, but as a starter instrument, the Harleys seem to punch well above their weight class in both quality and overall sound.

Now, I just need to learn how to play this thing…

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@PamPurrs Thanks, and best wishes to your sister (although I’m sure she has long ago made her adjustments to our right-handed world). :slightly_smiling_face: It is frustrating to see great bass models being discussed here in the Bassbuzz forums, and knowing that many aren’t available in left handed versions, but I don’t want to beat that horse to death. I hope the lists I’ve compiled might help another lefty. And of course, left handed stock and offerings will change, and there’s always the used market. It’s true that left handers could have chosen to play right handed, but that’s just not for everyone, so we who do it LH just have to deal with it.

@Gyffes Welcome to the forums, and thanks for posting your experience. I’m sure your Harley Benton will do well for you as a beginner. You can search the forums for advice for beginners, and also please consider taking the Beginner to Badass (B2B as we call it) course; it’s really helpful, and most agree it is the best of what’s out there! Josh is a great teacher.

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I’m not interested in any left handed equipment for myself, but this is a very generous contribution to members who are . . . as well as to our Forums, @Never2Late . . . :slight_smile:

Thank you for your efforts!

Cheers
Joe

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Thank you, Joe!

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